Minimum Wage at Kaesong Complex Rises 5%

The minimum wage for North Korean workers employed by South Korean companies at theKaesong Industrial Complex rose again by 5 percent this year. As a result, the minimum wage at the industrial park reached the legal rate-of-increase ceiling of 5 percent for the fifth year in a row.

A Unification Ministry official on Monday said, "Our side's Kaesong Industrial Complex Management Committee and the North's General Bureau for Central Guidance to the Development of the Special Zone agreed on the 5 percent increase of the monthly minimum wage at the industrial park last Saturday."

The minimum wage rose from US$60.775 to $63.814 and will apply until July 31 next year.

The rate-of-increase ceiling of the minimum wage is 5 percent under the Kaesong industrial park labor regulations.